Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Which professors make the highest salaries?
In case you missed this earlier, here’s a list of academic fields and what their faculty make, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Thought it might be appropriate during the current state budget talks on higher education.) The top five fields for professors at four-year universities: Legal: $134, 162 Engineering: $114,365 Business: $111,621 Computer…
Notes in the Margins: Cars, charter universities and university mergers
New Trinity policy bars cars from entering campus after midnight A new policy at Trinity Washington University bars cars from entering campus after midnight. (The Washington Post) Senate panel: Consider merging two state universities A Maryland Senate budget panel voted to ask the University System of Maryland to consider fusing campuses in College Park and…
House higher-ed committee passes omnibus bill
Got out of there around 8:45, with the bill having passed after a lot of partisan bickering, failed DFL amendments and one Republican dissenter. So the bill remains relatively unchanged from its condition in the first part of today’s session, with the exception of tuition. The committee adopted an amendment proposed by Rep. Tom Rukavina…
U of M regents committee begins conflict of interest investigation
An ad hoc committee made up of three members of the University of Minnesota’s board of regents began an investigation today into whether Steve Sviggum’s position on the board represents a conflict of interest. Sviggum, a former Speaker of the Minnesota House, is also a lecturer and fundraiser at the U’s Humphrey School of Public…
The House higher education committee has recessed, so here are some highlights from the omnibus bill session mentioned so far. They’ve given an overview, but haven’t discussed individual amendments yet — so there’s more than what you see below. (I’ve covered much of the legislation in previous posts. And some of this is separate legislation.)…
Another light moment. Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona) was chiding House higher-ed committee Chairman Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls) for not communicating with Gov. Mark Dayton before helping shape the current House higher-ed bill. When Pelowski headed up the higher-ed committee, he said, he had once-a-week visits to then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty. It’s all about reaching out. Rep.…
From this afternoon’s House higher education committee session on the omnibus bill — Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona): Considering the past 13 years, is it accurate to say this is the largest cut to higher education in those years? Committee Chairman Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls): That’s probably safe to say.
Heading off to the House higher-ed committee meeting, which will deliberate on its omnibus bill. It could be a long one — lasting into the evening. I’ll try to post updates if I can, considering the Capitol’s lousy WiFi system.
Just got the Senate higher ed budget breakdown. I did some quick math and double-checked with a couple of folks in higher ed, and here’s what I’ve found are the main cuts and additions. Compared to today’s spending levels: MnSCU: -10.33 percent University of Minnesota: -14.41 percent Office of Higher Ed administration: -10.33 percent State…